Apparatus for transporting loads



May 30, 1950 H. LmDLE.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING LOADS i sheets-sheet l Filed Jan. 7, 1947 May 399 1950 H. MIDDLE APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING Lomas 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Jan. 7, 1947 May 30, 1950 H. LmDLE 2,509,646

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING LOADS Filed Jan. 7 1%472 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 30,. 1950 H. LHDDLE V 2,509,646

APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING LoADs Filed Jan. 'L 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FQR TRANSPQRTING LOADS Application January 7, 1947, `Serial No. 7240.661

' In Great Britain January i7, 1946 Claimsl This invention relates to apparatus for transporting of loads in which a skip is hauled by a winch along a runway and stopped and dis,- charged at a selected one of a number of dis,- charge points. Such apparatus is commonly used for charging aline of bunkers.

In orderthat the skip discharge may take place at any one of a, number of points at the will o an operator, one procedure has been to employ a portable electric trip switch, install it at the chosen point along the length of the runway and plug it by cable into the winch motor circuit, the trip switch when actuated by the skip, serving to stop the motor while the skip is discharged. Such an arrangement however, is not entirely satisfactory as lodgxnent oi material on the skip structure is liable to lead to engager ment with and destruction of the trip. switch.

In accordance with the present invention, a number of stop switches are provided which are associated individually with the `discharge points and can be opened individually to select a discharge point and to cause a selector switch driven by the winch to stop the winch when the skip arrives at the selected discharge point, the stopping of the winch being independent of the discharging of the skip and of any actuation re-4 sulting from the arrival of the skip atthe selected discharge point.

A preferred embodiment or the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in. which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic lav-out of an. instal.- lation in accordance with the invention for discharging skips selectively at any one of three discharge points I, II. IIL

Fig. 2 shows the apparatus provided at each discharge point for nrcselectine the discharge point and for causing a skin to be discharged at the selected point.

Eig. 3 shows part of the apparatus of Fig. 2 in an inoperative position and Figs. Il, 5 and fi are respectively a front elevare tion, a plan` and a ,side elevation to a larger scale or part of the apparatus shown in Fise Z.

At the discharge points are arranged three `bunkers BI, B II, Bill. Above the bunkers e runway or track T alone which a skip si er., ranged to run to and trom a loading mint (not shown). The increments of the skin S alone the track` T are controlled by a winch W havingV a cable C and driven by a motor M;

Above the track T are arranged at the dis,- charge` points three ramps El, RII and Rm. The ramps have an elevated or retiredI position in which they lie clear of the; skip S, and. a lowered 2 or operative position in which the ramp RIII is shown and in which they lie in the path of the skip.

Also at the discharge points there are three switches RSI, RSII and RSIII which are mechanically connected tothe ramps as indicated by the dotted lines MC so that they are opened when the associated ramp is lowered into the operative position and closed when the ramp is raised into the retired position.

The ramp switches RSI, RSII and RSIII are connected in series with a selector switch S-S which is connected to the control circuit CC of the motor M. The selector switch has three contacts ssl, ssII and ssIII which bridge the ramp switches and which automatically open in succession as the skip reaches the discharge point I, II and Ill' and are automatically reclosed in the reverse order when the skip is returned after discharge.

The motor M drives the winch W which in turn drives the selector switch SS.

The selector switch SS is of the Well-known kind used in elevators of the automatic starting and stopping kind for selecting the floor at which the elevator is to stop and, as it does not, in itself, constitute any part of the present invention, its construction need not be described here. It is sufcient to understand that in the event of a ramp switch being opened at a discharge point, the braking of the corresponding selector contact when the skip reaches that discharge point determines that the skip will be stopped there. Commonly used switchboard relay mechanism then acts so that, after a pause of a duration sucient to ensure complete emptying of the skip into the bunker, the motor M is reversed and hauls the ship back to the loading point.

The selector contacts ssl, SSII, sslII, :and the ramp switches RSI, RSII and RSIII associated with the discharge points I, II, III, do not have to be disposed at those points. They are shown at those points in Fig. 1 only for the sake of c0r1- venience. The selector contacts are arranged within the casing,r of the selector switch. The ramp switches can be arranged anywhere but are preferably located near the discharge ramps.

It will be seen from inspection of Fig. l that if one of the ramp switches RSI, RSE, RSIII is open, the skip will stop when the correspondilisr selector contact ssl, ssii or esili opens and that by reason of rotation of the selector switch by the winch, the stoppage can be arranscd to occur when the skip has been hauled to; the corresponding discharge point I, II or III.

@perline of a ramp switch thus pre-determines that the skip will be stopped at the discharge point associated with that switch. The opening of the ramp switch is eiected by lowering the associated ramp into a position in which it lies in the path of the skip as described above, but it is emphasized that the stopping of the skip at the discharge point is not dependent upon abutment of the skip against the ramp. If, for example, through a fault, a ramp switch were to be opened while the ramp remained in the inoperative position, the skip would nevertheless be stopped on its arrival at the discharge point associated with the ramp.

In Fig. 1, the skip is shown arriving at the discharge point III, the selector contact ssIII being, therefore, about to open. When that contact opens, as the associated ramp switch RSIII is also open, the motol1 circuit will be opened and the skip stopped.

The sequence of events when a skip is discharged will now be explained with reference to Figs. 2-6.

Fig. 2 is a more or less diagrammatic side elevation of a skip S arriving at a discharge point at which is arranged a ramp R having a ramp switch RS. The skip has travelled to the discharge point from the left instead of from the right as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows the ramp R in its elevated or retired position. In that position, it maintains the ramp switch RS closed. The ramp is suspended from two arms iii and is provided with an operating lever 'I. In order to select the discharge point at which the ramp is located, the lever 'I is swung down as shown in Fig. 2. This lowers the ramp into the operative position and opens the ramp switch RS. (As explained in connection with Fig. 1, this results in preselection of the stopping position.)

The skip S is of the bottom-discharge type, l

that is to say it has bottom doors (only one is shown) 2 which can be swung open to discharge the load. For opening the doors, there is provided on each side of the skip a lever pivoted to it at 5a and connected to one of the doors by a cable 4 which passes over a pulley I5 on the shaft of a wheel w. The wheels w serve to support the skip on the track 'I'.

When the skip reaches a discharge point at which the ramp R has been lowered, the levers 5 abut against the ramp. The ramp is held immovable against the thrust to the right by a stop 8. Continued movement of the skip, therefore, causes the levers 5 t0 be swung to the left and the doors 2 to be swung outwards and opened as shown in chain lines in Fig. 2. It is at the moment at which the doors are thus opened that the selector switch SS causes the motor M to stop and the skip to be stopped. The abutment of the levers 5 against the ramp results only in the opening of the discharge doors of the skip. It does not determine the stopping of the skip.

After an interval of time determined as being sufficient to allow complete discharge of the skip to be effected, the switchboard relay mechanism causes the motor to start up in reverse and haul the skip back. Movement of the skip away from the ramp allows the doors to be closed by gravity thereby swinging the levers 5 back into the full line position shown in Fig. 2.

Should the skip on its return journey meet a ramp in the operative position, the ramp will yield to allow the skip to pass.

The construction of the ramp is shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The ramp is made up of two T-section rails 9 suspended by the links I0 from a pair of shafts I I, I2. The operating lever 'I is keyed to the shaft Il (Fig. 5) and has a spring loaded pin I3 in it which can be engaged in one or the other of two depressions I4 in a bracket I5 to hold it and the ramp in the operative and inoperative positions. A nose I8 is provided on the boss of the lever 'I to close the switch RS (Figs. 2 and 3) when the ramp is made inoperative.

Referring again to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the complete cycle of operations is as follows:

It will be assumed that a loaded skip is to be discharged into the bunker BIII.

The discharge point III is selected by lowering the ramp RIII from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 2 with the result that the ramp switch RSIII is opened.

The motor M is started and the skip is moved along the track. The skip passes through the position shown dotted in Fig. 1 without encountering the ramps at the discharge points I and II as these are in the retired positions. On reaching the discharge point III, it encounters the lowered ramp RIII. Its door opening levers 5 (Fig. 2) are thus swung on their pivots and, when the doors of the skip are fully open, the selector switch SS stops the motor M, the stopping instant having been pre-selected by the opening oi the ramp switch. After a pause to enable the skip to discharge its load into the bunker BIII, the switchboard relay mechanism then starts up the motor in reverse so that the empty skip is hauled back and the selector contacts ssIII, ssII and ssI are reclosed in that order. The doors of the skip are closed by gravity when the restraining inluence of the ramp is removed.

It will be clear that the ramp switches RS are, in effect, stop switches but that they act as such without the cooperation of the skip.

I claim:

l. Apparatus for transporting loads comprising a winch, a skip connected to said winch so as to be hauled thereby along a track past alternative discharge points, an electric motor driving said winch and means for opening the circuit of said motor comprising means controlled by said winch and operated whenever the skip arrives at one of said discharge points, manually controlled means for making said winch controlled means effective or ineffective :as desired at any discharge point whereby to pre-select a discharge point, the opening of said circuit being independent of the discharging oi the skip and of any actuation resulting from the arrival or the skip at the preselected discharging point.

2. Apparatus for transporting loads comprising a winch, a skip connected to said winch so as to be hauled thereby along a track past alternative discharge points, an electric mots-r driving said winch, a rotary selector switch connected in the circuit of said motor and driven by said winch and having a plurality of contacts associated individually with said discharge points and opened in succession during rotation or said switch in one direction and closed in opposite suc cession during rotation of said switch in the op posite direction, a plurality of stop switches associated individually with said discharge points and connected in parallel with said selector contacts and manually operable means for selectively opening said stop switches whereby to select one of said discharge points and pre-determine that the motor circuit is opened and the winch stopped when the skip arrives at the selected discharge point, the stopping of the winch being independent of the discharging of the skip and of any actuation resulting from the arrival of the skip at the selected discharge point.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which said manually operable means are disposed at said discharge points.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 compris ing at each discharge point mechanical means for discharging the skip.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising at each discharge point means for discharging the skip, said means being connected to said manually operable means so as to be made effective or in- 6 effective according as the stop switch has been opened or closed.

HAROLD LIDDLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS l0 Number Name Date 2,013,292 Smith Sept. 3, 1935 2,271,082 Lloyd Jan. 27, 1942 2,410,051 Deakin Oct. 29, 1946 

